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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29679915">All She Can Hope For</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarveysBughead/pseuds/DarveysBughead'>DarveysBughead</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>All They Can Hope For [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Riverdale (TV 2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Casual Sex, Drama, Drinking, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Mention of Barchie, Reconciliation, Reunion, Trauma, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, bughead - Freeform, season 5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 00:55:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,257</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29679915</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarveysBughead/pseuds/DarveysBughead</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hey.” He practically grunts the word, throwing back the last of his drink and beginning to push back from the bar.</p><p>“Don’t go,” she says without thinking and he finally turns his head to look directly at her; she doesn’t miss the way his eyes flick down her body and focus on her lips for just a second before meeting her gaze. </p><p>She can’t deny that she’d dressed with the intention of attracting attention, but there’s something about the way Jughead looks at her that makes her feel simultaneously warm and cold at the same time. Her body heats up under his gaze but her heart feels cold when she sees the almost-contempt in his expression. </p><p>“Pretty fancy outfit for a night at the Wyrm,” he says, and the penny drops. </p><p>Or: Betty begins to open up about her trauma and what she went through with TBK. Veronica and Jughead also star.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>All They Can Hope For [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2180949</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>80</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>All She Can Hope For</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Not the smartest idea to post a fic a handful of hours before a new episode, but I am who I am. *shrugs*.<br/>This is another way I would like to see Betty and Jughead reconcile post-time jump. It's little deeper than the previous one, but it's a part of the same series.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>She’d honestly thought she might never see Jughead Jones again. But when Archie had called, saying he needed her in Riverdale, that he needed </span>
  <em>
    <span>all </span>
  </em>
  <span>of them in Riverdale, she’d had to face the idea that she was going to see him and it was going to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>weird</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And it is weird. It’s deeply weird. It gets weirder after she starts sleeping with Archie. She knows she might be stringing him along, that he might be reading more into their “relationship” than what is really there, but she was horny, he’d always been objectively hot, and the way he’d looked at her in his living room that day had been enough to make her say </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck it</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What she doesn’t  tell Archie - what she doesn’t tell </span>
  <em>
    <span>anyone </span>
  </em>
  <span>- is that she’s also slept with two serpents, a waitress at Pop’s and the son of the owner of the hardware store, on many occasions. People in Riverdale who don’t know her mother or who aren’t part of her social circle are hard to come by, and she feels she’s cornered them all. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sex is a distraction. And it’s a good one. She gets to have her fun, a few orgasms thrown in for good measure, and it lets her switch her brain off for a while. And hey, she’s twenty five fucking years old and she can fuck whoever she wants and it’s nobody’s business but hers. And if its energetic enough to tire her out enough for a nightmare-free sleep, then that’s all the better.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before Archie’s suggestion that they all take up jobs at the school, she considers trying harder to find out if Polly really is turning tricks. Because if she can make some money doing what she’s already doing for free, then why the hell not? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But then Polly disappears and everything goes to hell in a handbasket.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Betty?” She's roused from her thoughts by Veronica’s voice and she looks up from the cup of coffee she’s been staring into, forcing a smile. It hasn’t been easy being back, and trying to navigate relationships with people she used to trust with her life and now doesn’t know how to talk to. “Sorry to interrupt, you look like you were miles away.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, V. Yeah, I guess I was. In Quantico.” She winces, thinking she sounds bratty, but she does feel a little trapped in this town; loyalty and nostalgia are the only things keeping her here.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I get it. I had another argument with Chadwick this morning about why I’m not back in New York yet.”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Betty almost wants to roll her eyes but stops, chastising herself when she realises she’s being unfair. It’s not Veronica’s fault her husband has a stupid name and sounds like a pompous ass. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you miss New York?” she asks instead and Veronica takes the seat across from her, cupping her hands around the cracked Riverdale High mug she’s poured coffee into. She winces as she takes a sip.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I miss the coffee,” she quips. “But yes, I do miss it, although in a different way than I’d expected to. I miss seeing my mom for brunch every week. I miss the city itself. I miss dinners at Del Posto and business lunches at Kurumazushi. But I don’t miss my life the way I thought I would.” She sips from her coffee again. “What about you? Do you miss Quantico?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know, honestly. I miss my apartment. I miss not living with my mother. I miss my cat.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You have a cat?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.” Betty smiles fondly, thinking of Toffee and the comfort she’d brought into the apartment and Betty’s life. “Toffee. I got her after…I’ve had her a few months now.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They speak for a little longer, keeping things light, but it becomes the start of something. It becomes the start of the rebuilding of their friendship.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After that first morning, Betty and Veronica share coffee in the staff lounge every morning together. They catch up on their lives and their time at college. They reveal more about their feelings and begin to touch on deeper subjects, eventually arranging to meet at the Pembroke on a Saturday afternoon to drink wine and talk more in depth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They’re three wines deep when Veronica finally broaches the subject Betty has been steadfastly avoiding, but apparently not as well as she thinks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“B, did something happen? A couple of times you’ve spoken like the last few months are completely separate from everything before that…and I guess I wanted to check that you’re okay. Because aside from everything that’s weird about being back in Riverdale, you seem like you’re a little on edge. And I know we haven’t seen each other in years and maybe this is your baseline now and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it feels a lot like the version of you who was being tortured by the Black Hood.” Veronica takes a deep breath after finishing her ramble, worrying that she’s gone too far by mentioning Betty’s serial killer father.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was abducted,” Betty says bluntly. “I was held captive for two weeks before the FBI rescued me.” She takes a huge gulp of her wine, letting it slide soothingly down her throat, calming her frayed nerves at revealing the hard truth for the first time since she’d been back in her hometown.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shit.” Veronica sips from her glass, her eyes on her friend, waiting for more information.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can’t talk about it. I’m…I’m not able to.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is it classified?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No. It’s…I just can’t talk about it. I physically can’t. Please don’t ask me to.” She feels the panic rising but pushes against it, shoving it down deep, back into the compartment it’s been living in for the last three months. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, hey, you don’t have to. I’m sorry. But will you…will you just tell me you’re okay?” Veronica tops off their wine glasses, and Betty lets herself relish in the light buzz she’s rocking. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m…no, not really. I’ve done some fucked up shit, V.” She takes a shaky breath, swallowing more liquid courage as Veronica gestures for her to continue. She chews on her lip for a second, wondering how to begin. “Is Chad…is he good in bed?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Veronica raises her eyebrows. “He is. It was better in the beginning, when there was more passion, when we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. But yes, he’s good. Why?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I…since it happened, I’ve been having a lot of casual sex. It’s… a good distraction.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Veronica suddenly throws her head back and </span>
  <em>
    <span>cackles</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Betty can’t help the bemused smile that crosses her face, and before she knows it, she’s laughing like old times with her friend. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good for you, girl. Tell me more. Have you found any casual acquaintances in Riverdale?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Betty freezes, gulping down more of her wine as her brain conjures up an image of Archie, his eyes full of lust as she took advantage of him. She takes a deep breath, reminding herself that Veronica is married. “I’ve slept with Archie a bunch of times,” she says sheepishly and Veronica laughs again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t look so worried, B! I’m married. And even if I wasn’t, Archie and I haven’t been together in </span>
  <em>
    <span>years</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Good for you. I taught that boy everything he knows.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Betty laughs too, relieved her friend is taking this well. “Well then I guess I should thank you.” She finishes her glass of wine and reaches for the bottle but Veronica stops her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This conversation calls for the harder stuff. I’ve got a few bottles of rum stashed away.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Betty giggles as Veronica gets up, walking - a little unsteadily - to a cabinet in the corner of the room, extracting a bottle of rum and two crystal tumblers. She pours the rest of the wine into their glasses and takes a sip as her friend pours glasses of the maple rum. They clink their glasses together and Betty downs hers in one, wincing a little at the burn of the liquor, but loving the way it warms her insides.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So who else have you had?” Veronica asks with a lascivious grin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve had a few serpents. They were okay,” she says with a shrug. “There’s an adorable waitress at Pops who has the most incredible tongue.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Betty Cooper! You </span>
  <em>
    <span>are </span>
  </em>
  <span>a surprise.” Veronica pours two more drinks. “Which waitress?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Petite, blonde curls, nose ring. Not the only piercing she has, by the way.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Betty! Oh I love this version of you.” Veronica is grinning wickedly and Betty collapses into giggles. They’re more than pleasantly drunk by this point, and they tip their heads back against the back of the couch as their giggles subside. “I’ve missed you, Betty.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve missed you too, V. I’m sorry we didn’t...I’m sorry for everything.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know. I forgave you a long time ago. I just couldn’t...I threw myself into life in New York and then too much time passed and I felt like I’d missed my chance. I’m sorry for that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Betty nods. She’d done the same thing - thrown herself into college life, trying to forget the sins of her youth and the heartbreak she’d experienced as well as caused. By the time she was ready to reconnect with her friends she’d felt like it was too late. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As she thinks about the past, and her present and future, she grows melancholy. She ruminates on the messy situation they’re all in; her trysts with Archie aren’t going to be music to anyone’s ears, but she worries about Jughead knowing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Almost as if Veronica has heard her thoughts, she asks her about him. “Have you and Jughead spoken about… anything?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No. We’ve barely spoken at all, to be honest. We’d been in contact a little during college, but then his book came out and it all went to hell.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their drunken state feels more contemplative now and Betty worries about this level of depth. The last thing she wants to do is break down, but she supposes there are worse places and worse people to be with her for this. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah, yes. The book.” Veronica nods sagely and Betty feels the same prickle that she gets whenever anyone mentions it. “You’ve read it, I assume?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No. He… he invited me to the launch party and I couldn’t go. But he took it badly and left me a voicemail that just… well, afterward I couldn’t read it. It was pretty clear he wanted nothing to do with me ever again.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah. What the hell did he say?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Here.” Betty grabs her phone from the table and dials into her voicemail. The masochistic part of her had saved it, alongside the several messages she’s kept from the good times in their relationship. Declarations of love sit alongside what felt - and still feels - like a declaration of hate. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Betty. I asked you to be here tonight because I wanted you here, and you didn’t even have the decency to tell me to my face that you weren’t coming. I thought we still meant something to each other but you know what? I don’t need you. I wrote a book, a whole goddamn book, and it’s been published and I’m a success and I did it all without you. So I don’t need you. I’m succeeding. What the hell are </span>
  </em>
  <span>you </span>
  <em>
    <span>doing?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The message goes on for another full minute, picking up the sound of a woman’s voice, and Jughead's, clearly flirting. When the message cuts off, it’s with a low </span>
  <em>
    <span>“oops”</span>
  </em>
  <span> and a giddy chuckle. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shit,” Veronica breathes. “Was he drunk?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think so, but I’m not completely sure. I mentioned it to him that first night we all came back to town, and he didn’t really acknowledge it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I assume he doesn’t know about Archie. And the others, but especially Archie.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“God no,” Betty scoffs, “how the hell could I tell him that? Even if we were talking?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So he doesn’t know about what happened to you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No. You’re the only person I've told.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Veronica hums thoughtfully. “Have you had therapy?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Betty laughs. “Oh yeah. FBI mandated. I can’t get back into the field until I’m cleared. But they won’t clear me because I won’t talk.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t hate me for suggesting this, but have you thought about talking to Jughead about this? I think… I think maybe he’d be the best person for you to talk to. He knows you better than anyone.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know how to talk to him. I don’t even know where to begin. We’re so… fractured. And he’s…I don’t even know what he’s going through.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s the other thing.” Veronica takes a deep breath and turns her face toward Betty. “I don’t think he’s doing so well either. I think it would be good for the two of you to talk. I think there are a lot of conversations that need to be had. For all of us, but especially for you and Jughead. You two never really broke up. You just… ended. And that’s not something either of you ever dealt with.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know, V.” Betty blows a deep breath out. “Isn’t it easier to just keep distracting myself with mindless sex with whomever I can get my hands on? Or my mouth around?” She winks saucily and Veronica laughs again but quickly grows serious.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think I need to tell you that what you’re doing isn’t healthy. Using sex as a distraction is great, but I get the feeling you’re using it to paper over cracks you don’t want to address. And I’m talking about way more than just the last few months.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Betty sighs, recognising that her friend isn’t going to let this go. And Veronica is right, she knows what she’s doing isn’t healthy. But it’s the best coping mechanism she has right now. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The following week, Betty strolls into the Whyte Wyrm, looking for a serpent who can take her home. She’s finished things with Archie, all too aware of the pain it will cause Jughead when he finds out, but she still has an itch that needs scratching. She’s surprised to find Jughead himself sitting at the bar talking to Toni. Last she knew, he was persona non grata with the serpents. It’s part of the reason she’d been hanging out at the Wyrm in the first place: no chance of running into him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She takes a deep breath before approaching the bar, sidling up next to Jughead, leaving an acceptable space between them, despite wanting to press into his side like she used to do. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Betty,” Toni says, “what can I get you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Toni. I’ll take a scotch, no rocks.” She smiles as Toni turns away to pour the drink, turning her attention to the brooding hunk of man next to her. “Hey, Juggie.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey.” He practically grunts the word, throwing back the last of his drink and beginning to push back from the bar.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t go,” she says without thinking and he finally turns his head to look directly at her; she doesn’t miss the way his eyes flick down her body and focus on her lips for just a second before meeting her gaze. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She can’t deny that she’d dressed with the intention of attracting attention, but there’s something about the way Jughead looks at her that makes her feel simultaneously warm and cold at the same time. Her body heats up under his gaze but her heart feels cold when she sees the almost-contempt in his expression. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Pretty fancy outfit for a night at the Wyrm,” he says, and the penny drops. </span>
  <em>
    <span>He knows</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She has a split second to decide how to play it, but she’s distracted by Toni sliding a glass to her. She knocks it back and requests another, catching the impressed look the Serpent Queen gives her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What brings you here on a Thursday evening?” she asks Jughead and watches a muscle twitch in his jaw. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I thought Archie would want the house to himself,” he replies, and there’s a challenge in his tone, matched by the one in his eyes. Betty sighs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If you’re referring to—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I am.” He folds his arms across his chest and she feels a wave of guilt, then feels angry at the guilt. She shouldn’t have to feel guilty. She’s done nothing wrong. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can we talk? Please?” she asks him as Toni passes her another three fingers of scotch. He studies her for a second and then nods, getting up and leading her to a booth in the corner, away from prying eyes and ears. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They sit in silence for a minute. She asked him if they could talk and now she doesn’t know where to begin. He’s scowling, looking anywhere but at her and she’s never felt further away from him, even when they were separated by more than a thousand miles. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why did you keep it a secret?” he asks eventually. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you really need to ask that?” she counters and he tilts his head in agreement with her point. “I never - </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever </span>
  </em>
  <span>- wanted to hurt you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Choosing Archie over me will always hurt me,” he says frankly and she winces. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s not what I was doing. I’ve never done that.” He raises his eyebrows, challenging her and she elaborates. “I wasn’t choosing him over you. I didn’t think you were an option.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And if I’d been an option? Then what?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I honestly don’t know.” She bites her lip. “I don’t think I could ever be anything casual with you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is that what it is with him? Casual?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, yeah. What else would it be?” He raises an eyebrow at her and she lets out an unladylike snort. “Yeah, it’s never going to be like </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>with him and I. We’re friends. That’s all.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you and I are…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I could ask you the same thing.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s fair.” He swallows the rest of his drink and sits back in the booth, pushing a hand through his hair. “I was drunk when I left you that voicemail. I don’t even remember what I said.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She hums thoughtfully. “I suspected that, when you didn’t seem to feel you needed to apologise or address it in any way.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Do</span>
  </em>
  <span> I need to apologise?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She thinks about that for a moment. She’d been hurt by his words, still was, but were they accurate? Maybe a little. She’d declined the invite on the day of the launch, and he was right to have been pissed about it. But what he’d said? Yeah, that could do with an apology. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You decide for yourself.” She pulls her phone from her bag and plays the message she’s listened to far too many times recently. His face doesn’t change as he listens to it, but when it’s over, he winces. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry. That was unfair. All of it. But… why didn’t you come?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She freezes. She should have expected he’d ask eventually. She can’t believe she didn’t see this coming. Her instincts aren’t what they used to be. At least, not with Jughead. But maybe that’s more about the way </span>
  <em>
    <span>he </span>
  </em>
  <span>is different than the way she is. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wasn’t sure how to be around you. I’m still not.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But you can be around Archie.” The barb stings but she knows it’s valid. She’s hurt him, over and over again and it’s little wonder he’s being so prickly with her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Archie has always been…simple. I’ve never had to worry about where I stood with him. I’ve never had to question it. But with you? There are so many loose ends. So many opportunities for both of us to get hurt. Again.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you seem to be an expert at finding them.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I didn’t want to do that. I just needed…a distraction.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A distraction,” he scoffs and she purses her lips. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He’s not the only one, if that makes you feel any better.” She waves at Toni, gesturing for two more drinks and the serpent queen salutes her with a grin, grabbing the bottle from the shelf and passing it to a gothic-looking waitress, pointing her toward their table.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It doesn’t.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Silence falls as the waitress fills their glasses again and Betty stops her just as she’s walking away. “Leave the bottle.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The woman glances toward Toni and Jughead chuckles. “Tell her we demanded it. She’ll be fine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okayyy,” she says, drawing out the word as she walks away. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How many guys have there been recently, exactly?” Jughead’s voice is casual but the tension in his posture suggests the question is anything but. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Four or five...</span>
  <em>
    <span>guys</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” She smirks and his eyebrows rise. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And a couple of girls,” she says nonchalantly. He’s surprised, she can see it on his face. She’d never mentioned her attraction to women to him, mostly because she’d never examined it too closely while they were together, having not seen the point because she was happy with him and him alone. “I… I experimented in college and enjoyed it.” She shrugs, but she wants him to be okay with it. She’s known him a long time and she doesn’t expect he’ll have anything negative to say, but she still wants his approval. He nods and cocks his head at her and she knows what he wants to ask. “The blonde waitress with the nose ring at Pop’s,” she says and he chuckles. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She seems like your type.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Type has nothing to do with it,” she says with a shrug. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jughead looks perturbed by this and she busies herself pouring another drink for each of them. She’s definitely buzzed now, but the liquor is giving her more courage to talk to him than she’s felt since they’ve been back. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can I ask you something?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why what?” She knows what he’s asking but she wants him to say it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why are you…” he sighs heavily before continuing, “why are you sleeping with half of Riverdale?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s a good distraction.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“From?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She hesitates then. Of course he’s going to ask, when she’s been making leading comments about it all evening. She’d wanted him to ask and now he’s asking she doesn’t know what to tell him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It takes a second for her to realise she’s crying, and it’s only because he suddenly looks uncomfortable.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What happened?” he asks, and the way he’s looking at her makes her choke on a sob. “Woah.” He reaches out and touches her arm and the contact soothes her far more than she could ever articulate. She sucks in a deep breath, and it’s shaky, but it’s calming.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was abducted and held captive by a serial killer. Again.” The last word is said with exasperation, a little tongue-in-cheek after everything they experienced in high school. Jughead barks a low laugh, but his eyes are soft, worry for her written all over his features.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“When?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A few months ago. I have been sleeping well since. I need.. distractions, ways to burn off restless energy. And so I found… a vice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The corners of his mouth have turned down unhappily and his other hand reaches out, until he’s clasping both of her hands in his. “Is it helping?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not really. I mean, a little, yeah, but no. Not really.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then why are you doing it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because I have to do </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Do you know, I have absolutely no real human contact in my day-to-day life. I don’t have friends at quantico, I don’t have anyone to hug me when I cry, to hold me as I fall asleep at night, to call when I’m freaking out. I have a cat, and I have a few casual bedfellows, none of whom have ever been allowed into my home. I’m all alone out there, Jug. And now that I’m here...it's even worse. It’s better now that I’ve reconnected with V, but…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, Betty.” His sincerity is touching, and combined with his hands holding hers, she wants to cry again. “You could’ve called me. I know we haven’t really been in contact, and I can understand why you wouldn’t want to, after that voicemail, but… you can always call me. Always.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She lets out a humourless laugh. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Jughead, but I’m kind of drowning. And calling you would’ve just pulled me further under.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know why.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their eyes meet and she sees what she’s been looking for all along. Someone who cares. Someone who has always cared. He squeezes her hands and she feels a tear slip down her cheek. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I regret everything that happened. I regret pushing you away, letting you </span>
  <em>
    <span>pull </span>
  </em>
  <span>away. And I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t fight harder for us.” He takes a deep breath, squeezing her hands again, rearranging their extremities so their fingers intertwine. “I want to try again.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You what?” She breathes, completely afraid she’s heard him wrong, but also terrified of the idea of what he’s suggesting. She’s a mess. She can’t drag him down into the dark hole she’s been living in since TBK. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I want to start again. I want us to be friends again, at least. And not just you and I. All of us.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<span>Friends. It’s actually better than anything else he could have offered. At least, for now it is. Friends is something she can do. Friends is something that she wants. And at this point, it’s the best she can hope for. At this point, it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>all </span>
  </em>
  <span>she can hope for. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Well. Thank you for reading! Sorry for the mentions of Betty and literally half of Riverdale but... it is what it is. Girl has TRAUMA.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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